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1st IgorTV's World Cup
Overview The 1st IgorTV's World Cup was the first edition of World Cup in IgorTV universe, an international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of the member associations. It took place on Greece, after the country was awarded the hosting rights in 2013. A total of 64 matches were played in seven venues located in as many host cities across Greek territory. In the final, the Germans defeated the Netherlands by 1-0 to win the tournament and secure the country's first title. Host Selection In August 2013, IgorTV's FA announced that the tournament would be held in Europe in line with its then-active policy of rotating the right to host the World Cup among different confederations. Greece disputed the right to host the World Cup with Spain and Colombia formally declared their candidacy but, after the withdrawal of Spain from the process, Greece defeated Colombia, the Greeks were officially elected as host nation unopposed on 1 July 2013. Participating Teams Following qualification matches were played between 4 December 2013 and 2 July 2014, and the following 32 teams, including the host nation, qualified for the final tournament. Venues and Official Ball Seven venues, new and renovated, in five cities around Greece were selected for the tournament, as they covered major part of the country, in a high distributed hosting competition, which hasn't been a problem by long-distance travels, as Greece isn't a country with continental size. The most used stadiums were the Athens Olympic Stadium, Karaiskaki Stadium and Pagkritio Stadium. The Official Match Ball The official matchball of the first World Cup was called 'Adidas Orapolis', as a tribute to the Oracle of Athens, an important part of ancient Athens and Greece, as well as the indenpendent old Greek cities, which were essential to the cultural development of Greece during the homeric period. With that touch of antiquity atmosphere on the ball, its design remember the older footballs from the past, reuniting different tons of blues in gradients inside triangles, which carry on watermarks of ancient Greek cities and symbols. The Finals Draw and Group Stage The 32 participating teams were drawn into eight groups, and in preparation for this, the teams were organised into four pots with the seven highest-ranked teams joining host nation, Greece. IgorTV's FA aimed to create groups which maximised geographic separation and therefore the unseeded teams were arranged into pots based on geographic considerations. The first round, or group stage, was a competition between the 32 teams divided among eight groups of four, where each group engaged in a round-robin tournament within itself. The two highest ranked teams in each group advanced to the knockout stage. Teams were awarded three points for a win and one for a draw, and when comparing teams in the case of a points draw inside a group, the first tiebraker was goal difference, which's no used in the current editions. In the knockout stage there were four rounds (round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and the final), with each eliminating the losers. The two semi-final losers competed in a third place play-off. For any match in the knockout stage, a draw after 90 minutes of regulation time was followed by two 15 minute periods of extra time to determine a winner. If the teams were still tied, a penalty shoot-out was held to determine a winner. Group Stage Group A Group B Group C Group D Group E Group F Group G Group H Knockout Stage Round of 16 Quarter-Finals Semi-Finals Final Category:National Teams Tournaments